


The Last Raptorian

by Theoroark



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Cabins, F/F, First Kiss, Getting Together, Happy Ending, Love Confessions, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Omnic Pharah, Sharing a Bed, Unconventional Families, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-01
Updated: 2018-02-26
Packaged: 2019-03-12 07:48:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13542921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Theoroark/pseuds/Theoroark
Summary: Ana Amari never stopped fighting for what she believed in, and she believed in her daughter, even when the rest of the world was against them.-An Omnic!Pharah AU, focused on Pharmercy and their relationships with Ana.





	1. Prologue

Angela was five years old when Ana Amari invented the Raptorian field evacuation omnics. She didn't have any memories of hearing about it at the time. But she remembered sitting in the backseat of a car on a rainy day when she was eight and flicking through the website of a scientific journal and seeing pictures of the tall, gleaming omnics, their red eyes staring straight ahead. "Dr. Amari has no fear of the uncanny valley," the article said at one point. Angela did not know the phrase and so she looked it up and then looked back at the Raptorians. She had to agree, there was something unsettling about those red eyes not blinking as people milled around them and stared.

 

When she was twelve she was in high school level science classes. That was nice because they were challenging, they weren't just homeworks and tests, they made her think. Like the time her teacher sent them an article about how Dr. Amari had refused to hand over the Raptorians and the UN had had to use military force to destroy them. The class had talked about the nature of Omnics and the nature of war and Angela had stared at the picture of those red eyes surrounded by flames. She did not know what to say, and marveled that her classmates were so sure.

 

When she was 25 she had gotten her MD and a job offer from Overwatch. The fact that they would take her on at such a young age should have indicated to her something about their hiring practices, but she was still shocked when she walked into the lab the first day and Dr. Amari was waiting for her.

 

"So you're my new assistant," she said briskly, as Angela gawped. "My, you are young, aren't you? Well. We'll see how this goes."

 

When she had been working there for a couple weeks, she finally had the courage to ask Dr. Amari about it. Or rather, she had quite timidly said, "You know, I was a bit surprised to see you here." Ana had set down her cup of tea and sighed and Angela had fallen into a guilty silence.

 

"No, no," Ana had said wearily. "You really should get it out."

 

"Wasn't Overwatch, weren't they the people who-?"

 

"Yes." She took a sip as Angela thought furiously as to how she could most delicately phrase this.

 

"So why do you- did they-" Ana was watching her mildly. "Why do you work here?"

 

"They're rebuilding," Ana said. "And rebuilding right." Angela frowned.

 

"But they-"

 

"So did I, Angela." Ana's voice had a sharpness to it now, and Angela was afraid, even though she sensed it was not directed at her. "The Crisis was a terrible time. We all did terrible things to survive and protect those we loved. Including Commander Morrison and Commander Reyes. Including me."

 

She set her cup down again and stared at the table. "I can't judge them for killing my family to protect their own. Not when I would have done the same, if it were up to me."

 

Angela had been a child during the Crisis. She did not know how to respond. So she took Ana's hand and squeezed it. They sat there in silence and Angela did not bring it up again.

 

When she had been working for Ana for a few years, Commander Reyes brought in a young man who horribly burned and disfigured and who should have been left to die. But she and Ana had worked for hours on end to stabilize him, and then they worked for weeks to rebuild him.

 

They had salvaged a good amount of the man, all things considered. And his body was responsive and functional. Angela was both saddened by and proud of what she had done. But she could only share the former with the young man.

 

Angela was able to listen to the young man indefinitely, and nod sympathetically and agree that it was not fair, but Ana lost her patience after a year.

 

"You are still the same person! You are just capable of different things now!" she had shouted at him. Genji stared at her mutely and Commander Reyes and Angela had stood between them, too shocked to intervene. "If everything that made you you was contained in those pounds of flesh, you are a poor excuse for a soul!"

 

Genji said nothing and Ana stalked away. Angela made to go after her, but Commander Reyes grabbed her shoulder and shook his head. She found Ana later, though, and brought her a cup of tea. Ana had thanked her and patted the seat on the sofa next to her, and they had sat in silence.

 

When she was thirty, Dr. Amari died, and Angela lost the closest thing to family she had had since she was eight.

 

When she was thirty, Dr. Amari came back to life in an email that popped into her inbox a few hours after her funeral.

 

> _Angela-_
> 
>  
> 
> _I had to go. I am so, so sorry._
> 
>  
> 
> _There is so much you deserve to be told and I cannot tell you any of it right now._
> 
>  
> 
> _You cannot begin to know how much you have helped me over the years. And so if you are unable or unwilling to help me once more, I understand._

 

But all of Angela's career had been helping Ana, it was almost all she knew, and so she boarded the first flight to Quebec that she could find.

 

The coordinates Ana had given her were in the mountains, deep in the forests that had thrived in the aftermath of the Crisis. So Angela drove along empty highways and then single track logging roads. Then she lost a road altogether, and grit her teeth as rocks and branches tore up the chassis and the deposit on the rental SUV.

 

But when she reached the coordinates, she saw the house. A big, spacious cabin, completely hidden in the trees. The only thing that set it apart from any other vacation home was the lack of a driveway, the one-way windows that wrapped around it, and what Angela was able to identify as a sniper's nest at its peak.

 

So she felt uneasy when she walked up the stairs to the porch and punched the code Ana had given her into the front door. But the keypad beeped pleasantly and the door unlocked. Angela took a deep breath and opened the door and stepped in.

 

The cabin was bright and open. There were cream shag carpets on the floor, white wooden furniture in the kitchen, and taxidermy deer heads on the walls. The den took up most of the space on the first floor, and plush grey leather furniture surrounded the stone hearth of the fireplace. And there was an Omnic sitting on that leather sofa, who turned to look at Angela and sighed.

 

"So you're the muscle my mom hired?" she asked.

 

When she was thirty Angela met Ana Amari's daughter, the last of the Raptorian Omnics.


	2. In

Angela had been stunned into silence when she had first met Dr. Amari, all those years ago, and now, once again, the doctor had rendered her speechless. Thankfully, the Raptorian seemed to simply be amused by this. 

 

"So she told you even less than she told me, huh?" she asked. "Or ooh, wait." She turned around, resting her angular chin on the back of the sofa. "Any chance she told you why she faked her death?"

 

Angela shook her head and the Raptorian sighed in disappointment. "Ah well. She said she'd be back in a few days– she did tell you that, right?" Angela nodded. "We can ask her then, I guess."

 

She stood up and Angela was able to confirm that yes, it was a Raptorian: the heavy plated armor made to ensure the model could perform rescues in any conditions, the large twin jets that enabled sustained flight, the concusive microcanons on the wrists to clear an area of hostiles. The expressive eyes and face that had unsettled people even before the Crisis, and ensured that they were among the first slated for elimination when it broke. 

 

But here, the Raptorian was not performing tight aerial maneuvers or rough landings in war zones like eight year old Angela had seen in the scientific journals. Here, the Raptorian was trotting over to the kitchen and chatting animatedly. 

 

"I was joking about the muscle thing, to be clear," she said. "I was just making fun of how paranoid my mom gets. You know. If anything, I need to start being a good host to you." She opened the door of the fridge and looked back over at Angela, who was still standing with her bags at the front door. "You like beer?"

 

Angela swallowed and attempted to speak. "Uh. Maybe later?"

 

"Alright. But you must be hungry." The Raptorian shut the refrigerator door and started opening the cabinets. "Uh. We have... crackers? I'm sorry, food for carbon-based life isn't exactly our specialty here."

 

Angela laughed, surprising herself. "Crackers are fine. Thank you." The Raptorian motioned to the kitchen table and she sat down. "Uh. I'm Angela, by the way."

 

"Pharah," she said, as she sat down and slid the package of saltines over to her.  

 

"Pharah." Angela said carefully. She stuck out her hand, feeling horribly awkward. But Pharah smiled widely as she grabbed it and shook it. "It's nice to meet you."

 

"Likewise." Pharah watched her open the package and bite into the cracker, and so Angela took pains to keep her face neutral as she discovered they were quite stale. "So uh. Do you want to start first with the questions, or should I?"

 

"Questions?" Angela asked. 

 

"Well, I figure that you know stuff about what's going on that I don't and I know stuff about what's going on that you don't. So I figure if we try to fill in each other's blanks, we'll get some kind of complete picture." Pharah gestured to her magnanimously. "You already started, I guess, so go ahead."

 

"Right," Angela said. She nibbled on her cracker as she thought. "So I guess uh. Maybe start at the beginning? How are you..."

 

Pharah waited for Angela to trail off, then began to explain. "My mom knew people would be coming for us. She knew we couldn't beat them or outrun them– but she had contact with the start of the Omnic Rights movement, and she thought maybe we could hide."

 

"Are there more of you?" Pharah looked down. 

 

"No. There were three safe houses that could take one of us each. The strike team found the other two. But my dad-"

 

"Your dad?" Angela interrupted. Pharah perked up. 

 

"Ah, yeah! Hang on." She tapped at her wrist and an image shot out of her hand of a besuited, long haired man, with his arm slung around Pharah's shoulders. "He was an MP, and so I don't know if they even suspected him, but they definitely didn't want to cause an international incident over a hunch, so." She smiled fondly at the picture. "He isn't able to come out here as much as mom, but he's awesome."

 

"That's great," Angela said. "So this cabin-"

 

"Not many people poking their noses around here."

 

Angela looked out the window at the thick forest around them. "So you've been here for... two decades?"

 

"Yup!" Pharah said cheerfully. "And it is exactly as boring as you'd think it is." Angela laughed. "Now, I think it's my turn to ask some questions."

 

Angela grabbed another cracker. "Shoot."

 

"How do you know my mom?"

 

"I'm her assistant."

 

Pharah frowned. "In the med bay?"

 

"Yeah." Angela tried to think of other useful information. "For over five years now. But I wasn't in the field with her during the mission, and it was classified, so I have no idea what happened–"

 

"What do you do in the field?"

 

"Uh. I'm a medic?"

 

"Huh." Pharah leaned back, her brow furrowed. "So uh. The thing I'm running into here is that my mom wouldn't go dark if she wasn't facing a really serious, really dangerous threat. The way my dad talked, it sounded like she might have been hurt. And, you know, you seem very capable and all, but–"

 

"Why did she pick me to come here?"

 

"Yeah."

 

"I don't know," Angela admitted. "We've worked with cybernetics, but I'm only trained in the basics of Omnic care. And you don't seem to be malfunctioning, anyway." Pharah shook her head. "She trusts me, and we've worked together for a while. But there are a lot of people who are loyal to Ana. I don't know."

 

Pharah nodded thoughtfully, tapping her fingers on the table. "I'll find out over the next few days," she announced. 

 

Angela grinned. "You sound pretty certain."

 

"Well, I'll try. Anyway. Your turn to ask a question."

 

"Hmm." Angela was suddenly struck by all the landmines around them– did Pharah remember things from the crisis, why had Ana picked her to survive, did she miss the other Raptorians– and felt quite stuck as to how to ask a question that wasn't horribly awkward or painful. "What do you do here?" she finally managed. Pharah still raised an eyebrow. 

 

"Uh. Read the news. Watch a lot of sitcoms. Fly around, if it's safe out. I wasn't lying about it being boring."

 

Angela frowned, trying to think back to the Omnic psychology course she had taken as part of her cybernetics research. There had been a lot they hadn't known, and most of it had been an annoyingly academic back and forth about whether they were anthropomorphizing Omnics and ignoring their unique features, or failing to acknowledge all of their common ground. Precious little of it had ever been useful to her. But no matter what, being stuck in isolation for decades, with only having contact with two other people, seemed worrisome. 

 

"Alright, my turn," Pharah said, shaking Angela out of her thoughts. "What do you think about Overwatch?"

 

"Well, I’ve worked for it, and so obviously I agree with a lot of what we do, but… I don’t know.” Angela shook her head. “There are… problems. I’m not sure sometimes." Pharah seemed satisfied with that answer and gestured to her, and Angela thought frantically for another acceptable question. "Uh. What's your favorite sitcom?"

 

Pharah cocked her head, then laughed. " _ Friends _ , I guess?"

 

"Never heard of it."

 

"I watch a lot of the oldies channels, okay? Anyway, it's good." She pouted as Angela shrugged ambivalently. "Moving on. What's it like being in the field?"

 

The question made sense, Angela thought. Pharah was literally built for it, and her mother did the same work. But she could not ignore the queasiness that arose with that question. "It's... difficult," she said hesitantly. "Less the technical parts, not that it's not hard, but I have excellent equipment and a great team. But mentally– it's so much, before, during, and after. It's like you become a different person out there. Down to your name."

 

"Your call sign?" Angela nodded. "What's yours, if you don't mind me asking?"

 

Angela suddenly minded very much, but felt obligated to answer. "Uh. Mercy." Pharah's eyes widened. "What?"

 

"Okay uh. What you just said was really serious and all but I just thought of a really good reference and I would very much like to make a joke with my new stranger-friend–"

 

"Oh my God." She blushed and covered her mouth with her hand, as though that would hide it. "Go for it."

 

"Have Mercy!" Pharah said in an exaggerated voice. She stared at Angela with an expectant smile and Angela stared blankly back at her. 

 

"I'm really sorry but uh. I don't get it."

  
" _ Full House _ ? Uncle Jesse?" Angela shook her head and Pharah blinked rapidly. "Okay. New mission."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to everyone who's commented so far– it really means a lot to me <3


	3. Up

There was apparently some microwave popcorn lying around, and so Pharah made that for her to eat during  _ Full House. _ Around  _ Friends _ , Angela started getting hungry for something more substantial, so Pharah heated up a can of soup in a sauce pan and moved the laptop to the table so Angela could watch while she ate. Around  _ Parks and Recreation _ , Angela took her up on the offer of a beer. 

 

"No good?" Pharah asked as she took her first sip. Angela tried to regain control of her facial features, and tried not to cough. 

 

"No, no, it's fine!" Pharah did not look convinced. "Really. I don't usually drink beer, is all."

 

"Aren't you German? That one  _ Scrubs _ episode makes me think Germans drink a lot of beer." Angela laughed. 

 

"I'm Swiss. But we do have Oktoberfests too," she said. She took another sip. "Tell you what. After you get out of here, you can come visit me, and I'll get you some real beer."

 

Pharah stared at her dubiously. It took Angela an embarrassingly long time to realize her mistake. 

 

"Tell you what," Pharah teased as Angela dropped her head in her hands. "I'll go with you anyway. I bet seeing you drunk is just as good as that real beer."

 

"No it isn't. I just start laughing way too much."

 

"Mmm," Pharah said, unpausing the show. "Sounds worth it to me." Angela took another drink and tried to focus on the screen. 

 

"So," Angela said as they ended their third consecutive episode, and what felt like a too-long period of silence. "Do you... like it here?"

 

Pharah hummed absently and canceled the autoplay. "I don't know how to answer that," she said after a moment. "I don't really know much else. Before, we were all just in labs and testing facilities and that sort of thing. So I've only really been those places, the back of a truck, and here. And I mean, I dunno." She looked out the expansive windows, at the darkened trees outside the cabin. "The facilities, I had more people to talk to, I guess? But there it was all... work, or something like that. Here, my mom and dad and I don’t have act like we’re something we’re not to make people more comfortable. It’s just… family, here. And you," she added, nodding to Angela. Angela ducked her head down and grinned. "And yeah, I have to stay here, but it's still much more freedom than I had back there. I can fly." Pharah smiled dreamily. "Actually fly. It's so much fun, you wouldn't believe it."

 

"I've flown before," said Angela, completely unsure as to why she felt she needed to impress Pharah, or why it made her so happy when Pharah looked impressed. 

 

"You have? When?"

 

"In the field," she said. "Here." She loaded up a clip of the Valkyrie demonstration video she had done for the UNHCR, and watched Pharah as she leaned towards the screen. With others, she was reluctant to talk about her service– too often she saw people salivate as soon as they heard about what the Valkyrie suit could do, enamored with the possibility of playing hero under the guise of doing good. But Pharah was programmed to perform rescues and extract civilians and the wounded, she thought. If anyone could conceptualize it as a duty, it would be her. 

 

"That's impressive," Pharah said when the video had finished. "But I'm still better."

 

Pharah had a cocky grin on her face and Angela tried to keep from returning it. "I don't have my suit with me. This isn't a fair competition."

 

"I'll take you flying tomorrow," Pharah said. "You'll know then. It's no contest."

 

"You're on," Angela said, and then stifled a yawn. Pharah's expression instantly shifted to concern. 

 

"You're tired."

 

"Ah, you know, I was just traveling all day, it's nothi– oh!" Pharah had jumped to her feet and scooped her up, and was smiling down on her wickedly.

 

"I can give you a preview, then," she said, and they jolted upwards, onto the second floor. As the landed, Angela looked around, and saw the railing all along the level in pieces and realized why the coffee table had been so far away. 

 

"You're absurd," she told Pharah, who just looked even more pleased with herself. 

 

"And you're tired," she repeated. "Get some sleep. You'll need it." She hopped back down to the first floor. Angela laughed and shook her head, and went into her bedroom. 

 

The next morning, after more stale crackers and some black coffee, Angela descended down the steps of the porch to the little clearing where Pharah was waiting for her. 

 

"You ready?" Pharah asked. Her wing jets were spread out and she was rocking on her heels slightly. Any apprehension Angela had had melted away. 

 

"Yeah," she said. "Let's go fly– hey!" Pharah had scooped her up in her arms again, bridal style. Angela glared at her as Pharah blinked down innocently. 

 

"What? I can't exactly give you a piggy back ride."

 

"I would kill for my suit right now," Angela muttered, and Pharah laughed. "Alright. Fly away."

 

Pharah looked up and Angela heard the rumble of her jets activating, and then they were rocketing into the air. She gasped and instinctively clenched her grip around Pharah's neck, and Pharah held her even closer. She closed her eyes against the whipping winds, and only opened them when the air around them had settled and Pharah gently whispered, "Angela. It's okay."

 

She saw Pharah first, looking down at her with gentle concern. Angela smiled shakily and that seemed to reassure her, and then Angela looked down and gasped again. They were high above the cabin. She could see the thick carpet of forest, the gray stone that bumped out of it and the blue streams and lake that splashed into it. She could distantly feel the cold currents of air but it almost seemed like she had gotten significantly closer to the warmth of the sun, even though she knew it was just the radial heat from Pharah's jets. 

 

"I'm going to have to make some adjustments to my suit," Angela whispered. Above her, Pharah laughed. 

 

"So are you admitting defeat?"

 

"I think I need more data to make my decision." She turned back to face Pharah. "How long can you stay up here?"

 

"As long as I need to," Pharah said. She leaned down and jolted forward, and Angela tightened her grip on her neck again, and nestled her face into her chest. 

 

-

 

"Okay," Angela said as Pharah touched down in front of the cabin, under the dusky sky. They had been up and down a few times, stopping for Angela to eat and for Pharah to recharge, but every time she had set foot on ground, Angela had just wanted to go back up. Which meant that she had to admit it. "You win."

 

Pharah grinned triumphantly and gently set her down, then offered her her hand. "How gracious of you. I can help you look over your suit, if you want."

 

"I'd like that," Angela said. She winced as Pharah pulled her up– her legs felt like jelly– and leaned on her heavily. "Your mom's going to kill me. She's all about putting distance between us and the fight. But having mobility like that would be so useful."

 

"Well, you know, that's what I'm here for. Literally." Pharah sighed as she helped Angela up the cabin steps. "Mom ever tell you why she made us?"

 

"No, but I read about it," Angela admitted. "Her unit got bombed, and they were used as bait for the medics that came to rescue them. It was awful."

 

"Yeah," Pharah said quietly. She held the door open for Angela, who tottered in and collapsed backwards onto the couch. Pharah sat down next to her. 

 

"She told us about it, when she was training us," Pharah said. Angela sat up a little. Pharah's gaze was straight forward and her mouth was flat. "She told us we could make sure nothing like that ever happened. We could protect people like you–" She nodded to Angela, "who are doing the actually important work."

 

"I don't know about that," Angela said, and Pharah smiled and shook her head. 

 

"Yes you do. You look me in the eye and tell me a single case where you would put taking a life over saving one." Pharah turned to face her. Angela looked down. "I'm not trying to attack you, Angela–"

 

"I know you're not," Angela said quickly. "That's what I'm worried about." Pharah frowned and she sat up some more, and scooted closer to her. "If you were out there, we could do so much more. You should be out there. It's not fair that you're not. And you're still just... I don't know." She pushed her hair behind her ear, suddenly embarrassed. "You haven't been doing all the stuff we've been doing, but you're still the kind of person who's going to do important things, when you get the opportunity. I know it."

 

She trailed off awkwardly. Pharah looked down with a small grin. "Thanks," she said. Then she abruptly stood it up. "It, uh, looks adorable," she said quickly, "but your hair's kind of a mess. You can use my mom's shower, if you want."

 

"Oh," Angela said. "Okay." She followed the direction of Pharah's finger, and when she got under the spray, she stared at the tile wall and tried to put her thoughts in order. 

 

Pharah was no longer in the first floor open space when Angela stepped out of the master bedroom. Angela went back to her bedroom and changed into boxers and a tank top, lay down on her bed and stared at the ceiling for a moment, then quickly stood up again. She stepped back out into the hallway, walked down to the other bedroom door, took a breath, and knocked. 

 

"Come in," Pharah said through the wood. Angela opened the door and walked in. Pharah was sitting on her bed. 

 

"Hey," she said. "Everything okay?"

 

"Yeah." Angela sat down at the edge of her bed. "Just wanted to see what you were up to."

 

"Mmm." Pharah scooted over to her, and Angela ducked her head down. "I've just been thinking."

 

"Oh yeah?" Angela asked, distantly. "About what?"

 

"I think I figured out why my mom sent you," she said. 

 

Angela shook herself out of her daze. "Yeah? Why?"

 

"Because I mean... I can take care of myself. No offense to you, I'm sure you can too, just, you know. I'm an Omnic literally built to protect. I don't really need much protecting." She ran her hand up and down Angela's arm. "But I'm still scared. Not about people finding me, but about... what comes next, after this. My mom hid me for decades because she was afraid that if anyone saw me, they would kill me. That's scary, Angela. I wanted to leave so bad but I was so afraid."

 

She put her other hand on Angela's leg and Angela felt almost light-headed as she looked into her eyes. "You were... the first person from outside that I met. And you're amazing." Angela laughed and Pharah shook her head. "I mean it, Angela. The time I've spent with you it's just... been so different. And so amazing. I feel so lucky I got to meet you."

 

"I'm the one who should feel lucky," Angela said. "When you get out there, you'll meet a million people like me. You're one of a kind."

 

Pharah snorted and shook her head again. "You're wrong," she said. "My mother sent you here for a reason. You're special, I know you are. You grounded me. Made me feel safe, like I can do this." Her hand moved from her arm to her shoulder and Angela felt her face heat up. "Thank you, Angela. You don't know how much this means to me."

 

Angela nodded and then, in the most impulsive thing she had done her adult life, kissed Pharah. She kept her eyes closed as she moved away, and opened them only when she was sure Pharah was not getting up to leave. When she looked back at Pharah, she was looking down and smiling. 

 

"It's late," Pharah said. "Do you want to sleep here tonight?"

 

"Yeah," Angela said quietly. "I do."


	4. Down

"Angela."

Angela opened her eyes briefly, saw that it was still dark out, and closed them again. Above her, Pharah sighed. 

"Angela, my mom's here."

Angela shot upright. She was suddenly very aware of her pajamas and her very presence in Pharah's bedroom at some ungodly hour of the morning. She wondered briefly if this was the teenage life she had missed out on by being a prodigy, before getting hit in the chest with a hairbrush. 

"Sorry," Pharah said. "Just uh. Thought you would want it." She pivoted and headed towards the door. "Come out when you're ready," she said over her shoulder. Angela stared at the brush in her lap, then moved it frantically through her hair and jolted out the door. 

She heard voices from the first floor, and leaned out over the balcony. Pharah was standing in front of Ana– whose right eye was covered with a patch, Angela noticed with a sick twist of her stomach. Next to Ana was a tall man with shoulder length hair, and both of them were staring at her. Angela raised her hand awkwardly. 

"Angela," Ana said. "It's good to see you again."

"And uh. You as well." She cleared her throat. "You know. Alive and all." 

Ana laughed hollowly. "I've been getting that a bit, recently." She turned to the man next to her. "This is Sam, my partner. Pharah said she's told you about him?"

"Let Angela come downstairs, Mom," Pharah said. Angela slipped away from the edge and jogged downstairs before Ana could respond. 

"It's nice to meet you," she said to Sam when she got down, slightly out of breath. She extended a hand and he smiled and shook it. 

"You as well. Pharah's told me quite a bit about you." He shot his daughter an amused look. "Already."

Angela looked at Pharah in what she hoped was not an overtly frantic way, but Pharah's face was completely impassive. She suddenly felt incredibly jealous of the Omnic condition. 

"In any case," Ana said. She was wearing an eyepatch, now, and so Angela hoped she was misinterpreting the look she shot between her and Pharah. "I wanted to apologize again for putting you in this situation, Angela, and to thank you." She stepped forward and put her hands on Angela's shoulders. "You took care of my world when I couldn't," she said hoarsely. "There was– you were the only one I could have trusted to know, how important she was. You’ll never know how grateful I am, Angela. I can never repay you."

Angela swallowed against the lump in her throat, and tried to blink away the prickling in her eyes. "It's– it's okay." She placed her hand on top of Ana's and squeezed. "We're all okay. Right?"

"We're going to be okay," Ana said. The softness that had been in her face a moment ago was gone, replaced by a familiar fierceness. "But we're going to have to act."

Angela nodded and stepped back, and when she glanced over she realized Pharah mirrored her posture– chin up, back straight, eyes, now that she was reminded of it, forward. Sam watched the three of them as Ana pulled out her holovid. 

"There's someone else out there," she said. "And in there. Overwatch has been compromised by Talon. Angela. You knew Lacroix, yes?" Angela nodded. "They got his wife. I don't know if she was a sleeper the whole time, or if it was something during her kidnapping–" She broke off and ran her hands through her hair. "It doesn't matter. The point is, Talon is targeting civilian relatives of Overwatch agents. And they may think I'm dead for now, but I don't intend to let this lie. And if they find out, and if they got that deep into Lacroix's life–" 

Ana turned to Pharah. "This house isn't safe any more," she said. Pharah stared at her in stunned silence. Then she broke into a massive smile. 

"So I'll go with you!" Ana blinked and open and closed her mouth. Pharah stepped towards her, gesturing excitedly. "I can protect you, while you work on this! This is what you made me for, mom, we're going to be such a good team–"

"Pharah." She turned to Sam, who shook his head. "I'm sorry. But you're not going with her."

Pharah stilled and stared at him. "What do you mean?"

"I have contact with the Shambali." Sam took the holovid from Ana and swiped to an image, which he then projected. The model of a mountain and a massive structure atop it appeared from the device. "Their security is something... unheard of. And they're accepting of your unusual circumstances. They've agreed to shelter you, until it's safe for you to come back to us."

"They're... monks," Pharah said slowly. "You're literally sending me to a nunnery." Sam shifted on his feet and coughed. 

"I know it's not ideal, Pharah, but we need to think about safety–"

"It's been twenty years."

"Your mother is right, it's incredibly dangerous out there right now–"

"I've been here for twenty years!" Pharah's voice shifted pitch with a short metallic screech, and they all winced. "I wanted to get out and you told me I could, someday, and now when I'm finally going to do it, you're sending me to another place where I'll just be– stuck?"

"Pharah." She turned to Ana, her fists clenched. "I want to let you see the world so, so badly." Her one eye was shining. “Habibti, I don’t want you to misunderstand. I want you by my side. Of course I do. When I look at you, I know– everything in my life, every awful thing that I did or was done to me, it was all worth it, because it meant you were here. Because I know you can make a better world. For everyone.” She took a step towards Pharah, and Pharah took a step back. “You are the best thing in my life, Pharah, and all I want is to give you the best life I can. I haven’t been able to give that to you and it’s my greatest regret. I want you to be happy so badly. But I need you alive. And I'm afraid for you, now. Please."

Pharah stared at her mutely, then spun on her heel and walked out of the cabin. They heard the sound of jets, and saw her flying into the sky. Ana leaned on Sam's shoulder, and he wrapped his arm around her. 

"I'm going after her," Angela said. She was heading towards the door before she was done speaking. 

"Angela, wait," Sam said.

"I'm going after her," Angela repeated, and she opened the door and walked into the sunrise-lit woods. 

As she tramped up through the forest, she wished a thousand times for her Valkyrie suit. She wished she could turn around and go back and get her car, but she could not face Ana right now. She wished Ana had built a slower, more terrestrial Omnic. She wished she had never met Ana. 

She finally reached the crest of the hill Pharah had flown towards and saw her sitting on the cliff's edge, the rising sun lighting her up in the worst way. She couldn't quite wish that last one. 

"Hey," she said, walking up to Pharah. She gave no sign of acknowledgement and Angela sat down next to her. "How are you doing?"

"Not great." Angela glanced over at her and Pharah's face was impassive, whether because this was her default display or because of her inner conflict, Angela could not tell. "I have no idea what I'm going to do."

She turned to Angela and opened her mouth, and Angela cut her off before she could ask the question. "I love you," she said. 

Pharah stared at her and Angela laughed bitterly. "You're not missing anything, by the way. It's way too soon for me to feel that, much less say it. I'm sure your sitcoms have covered this." She picked loosely at the weeds around them, staring out over the lake instead of at Pharah. "I know it's absolutely stupid. But you're like no one I've ever met. You said I kept you grounded but... God, Pharah, I have to go with the cheesy ass way of saying this, you make me soar."

Pharah laughed and Angela giggled despite herself. "I just... I know I love you. And I know that's because you're so special. And so I had to tell you that, before I told you that you should go to Nepal." Pharah stilled next to her and Angela took a deep breath. "Your mother's right. It's not safe for you to be on your own right now. But you can't stay locked up. You deserve better and the world deserves to have you in it. And maybe it's a monastery right now. But it's somewhere outside this cabin, this forest. That's a step in the right direction. And I know you'll be able to make it from there."

Pharah took her hand and Angela could almost cry at how familiar the cold, smooth metal had come to feel. "I won't be able to see you, though," she said softly. "I won't be able to see any of the people I know."

"You'll see new people. Meet new people. That's what you always wanted, right?" Pharah ducked her head down and gave a small nod. "That's what you've been looking for. That's life. And that's better than anything I can give you right now." She felt herself tearing up and she wiped at her eyes forcefully. "I wish we could just run away together, Pharah, but I just–"

Pharah wrapped her up in a hug and she buried her head in her shoulder, let the metal quiet her shaky breath. 

"I'm going to go," Pharah said quietly. "But I'm going to see you again. I promise, Angela. I'll find you."

-

Ana hugged Pharah tightly and her father helped her, unnecessarily so, into the small plane. Ana and Angela stood in front of the cabin and watched them fly off in silence. 

Ana spoke first. "I did what I had to," she said. "You would have done the same as me."

Angela could not look at Ana, could not move, could not think, really. "It's fine," she said after a moment. "Because that's the last decision you two will ever make for her."

Ana had been her mentor, her teacher, had always corrected her when she jumped to faulty conclusions or made hasty judgments. But she said nothing in response to Angela's words, words they both knew were pure bile. Angela picked her suitcase up from the ground and threw it in the car. She looked in the rearview mirror as she drove off, and saw Ana sitting down on the dirt. The cabin was big and dark behind her.


	5. Out

"Dr. Ziegler?"

 

Angela's fingers froze over the keypad. She was in Greece, she reminded herself, on a humanitarian mission. Overwatch had just been disbanded. The last contact she had had there was the letter of resignation she had sent as soon as she had gotten back from Quebec, four years ago. She had googled some names daily until the Talon crisis ended, and Mei had stayed at her place for a month after she had reappeared from the Antarctic, but she hadn’t been Strike Medic Ziegler for a long time. She had moved on. So that could not be...

 

She spun around on her stool and well, he looked very different, but there was no mistaking him. "Genji?"

 

He waved awkwardly. "Uh. It's been a while, I guess."

 

"I'll say." She appraised him as he shifted on his feet. He was completely covered in armor now, and the wiring and tubing that she and Ana had made to replicate human systems had been replaced by metal plates that she assumed covered more efficient, compact mechanisms. His face was hidden by a green visor, but she sensed none of the familiar anger and grief in his loose stance and the few words he had spoken. "You seem well."

 

"I am. I..." He shook his head. "I would love to catch up. But I actually sought you out for a reason. I found someone, who needs to see you quite badly. Would you mind making a house call?"

 

Angela frowned. It was after her practice hours, and she could best help whoever this was with her full team and equipment. And moreover, she did not need to see Genji's face to know, from the way he looked down and dug his toe into the floor, that he was concealing something from her.

 

But he did seem well. And if someone was in such pain that they could not come forward, she was obligated to go to them.

 

"Alright," she said, pushing away from her holovid set up and grabbing her coat. "Can you tell me anything about their condition? What should I bring with me?"

 

"Ah." Genji looked around and Angela raised an eyebrow. "You don't need to- we have everything, we just need you to take a look."

 

"Genji," she said wearily.

 

"Please, Dr. Ziegler," he said softly. "Trust me."

 

She sighed and followed him into the blinding Mediterranean sun.

 

He was fast as ever, weaving his way agilely through the crowd, occasionally remembering to glance back to make sure she was still with him. She half-jogged after him out of the slum where she was stationed, to the ruins that lay just beyond.  

 

He seemed to relax as they left the city, and moderated his pace so she could fall in next to him. "I forgot to ask, doctor," he said. "How have you been?"

 

They crested a hill and Angela saw a tent a few meters away, a cliff and the sea just beyond it. The tent was flying the flag of the Shambali, and she felt an unjustified wave of sadness at the symbol.

 

"It's been a change," she said, as confidently as possible. "But I'm keeping busy."

 

"I'm glad," he said. With a sinking feeling in her stomach, she followed him as he approached the tent. "You have always deserved the best, Dr. Ziegler."

 

She had turned to look at him, confused, when he said that, and so she missed the blur of blue flying out from the tent and knocking into her, wrapping her up in a hug. But when she felt the cool, smooth metal and heard Genji's laugh, she knew and she gasped.

 

"I told you I'd find you," Pharah mumbled into her shoulder.

 

-

 

Genji had always loved tea, but at Overwatch, Angela had always been the one to make it for the two of them. She ascribed it to his spoiled upbringing, that courtesy was something he had simply never learned. And so as she sat in the tent, she could not decide what to marvel at: the Shambali monk levitating in front of her, Pharah pressed up against her side, or Genji dutifully tending to the kettle.

 

"I respect my siblings at the monastery immensely," Zenyatta said as Genji plucked Angela's cup from her hand and refilled it. "But there is a limit to what can be done, what can be learned, in isolation. If you only ever study notes, you will never know the symphony."

 

"It was pretty boring there, is what he's saying," Pharah said. Genji recoiled and Angela choked a little on her tea, but Zenyatta simply laughed.

 

"Yes. That too." He spun his orbs around his neck as Genji settled between him and Pharah with a huff. Pharah nudged Genji, grinning, and he nudged her back. Angela was jostled back and forth by the exchange.

 

"We had only stopped by Nepal to deliver news and funds," Genji said, taking off his visor both so he could drink his tea and so he could glare at Pharah. "But the monks were practically begging us to take this one from them."

 

"They thought my methods of teaching would be more effective," Zenyatta corrected mildly.

 

"They begged me to come with them," Pharah stage-whispered to Angela. Genji groaned and she kicked at him and giggled. Angela felt Pharah lean less on her and more towards him and raised her cup to hide the downturn of her mouth.

 

"Whatever the case, I'm glad you all met," she said. Genji smiled at her and Zenyatta hummed.

 

"Yes," he said. "We are in harmony."

 

-

 

Later in the night, when Genji and Zenyatta had wound up in their own, incomprehensibly philosophical conversation, Angela had excused herself and walked over to the cliff's edge. She had sat down and closed her eyes and tried to focus on the sea air, and how she was glad Pharah was happy.

 

"Hey." It suddenly became much harder to focus on the latter. "Are you okay?"

 

"What? Yeah!" Angela sounded artificially cheery even to her own ears, but she kept the smile plastered to her face as Pharah sat down next to her. "I had a long day of work before, I'm sorry if I came off as... I don't know." She laughed self-consciously. "I'm just a little wiped."

 

She kept her eyes straight ahead as Pharah examined her. "Something's wrong," she announced. Angela sighed.

 

"It's... I just want you to know that there's... no hard feelings, okay? I really am so, so happy for you. And what I said, before you left... all I want is for you to be happy, and if Genji makes you happy–"

 

Pharah made an odd squawking noise and Angela looked over at her in alarm. Her face was frozen in some distorted display but, just when Angela was beginning to be truly scared, it collapsed into Pharah hysterically laughing. Angela's face heated up.

 

"Look, this isn't fun for me, but I meant it–"

 

"You think– Genji and I–" Pharah barely seemed to be able to get the words out and Angela contemplated jumping off the cliff.

 

"Aren't you?"

 

Pharah shook her head, a smile still on her face, and stood up. She offered Angela her hand, and Angela took it cautiously and let her pull her up. Pharah stood there, staring into her eyes, holding her hand, and Angela forced herself not to look away.

 

"There wasn't a day that went by, these four years, that I didn't think of you,” Pharah said. "I'm sure someone could figure out a way to access my thought logs, if you'd like me to prove it." Angela surprised herself by laughing a little at that. "And Genji– I went with him and Zenyatta because I wanted to be free, to travel, but you know, a few years into traveling with them, he mentioned your name, and–" She picked up Angela's other hand, and Angela's breath caught. "Angela, the monks, they would talk about the Iris, and I don't know if I believe everything they say, but that moment, when I saw my path back to you– it was like everything made sense. It was like a sign. I don't know. I talked to Zen about it– sorry if that's embarrassing–," Angela shook her head, a disbelieving smile on her face, "–and he said something about how I would have found that sign no matter what and he's probably right but Angela, when Genji told me he would help me find you, it was like I suddenly knew everything was going to be okay."

 

The moonlight made Pharah all shining and silver, and Angela could not look away. "What I mean by all that Angela, is– I love you. I don't know when exactly I realized it, but I do. And I don't know if you still feel the same way–"

 

"Yes." Angela felt herself tearing up and she smiled and ducked her head down. "God, Pharah, yes, I love you, and I... I'm so glad. I'm so grateful."

 

"Me too." They stood there for a few moments, Pharah holding her hands, before Pharah made a polite coughing noise.

 

"You know, I don't have lips proper, so I can't really kiss you, but I feel like this is the moment for–"

 

She cut herself off as Angela practically lunged up to kiss her, and wrapped her arms around Angela's waist. When Angela pulled back, smiling giddily, she lifted her up and jumped off the cliff. Angela shrieked and buried her head in Pharah's chest, and Pharah rested her forehead against hers as she flew.

 

"You're still absurd," Angela said.

 

"You love it," Pharah murmured.

 

"Yes," Angela said. "I do."


	6. Epilogue

_Three Years Later_

 

"Hey, Angela?" Angela looked away from the mirror, her hands still on the bow tie she had been tying, and over to the doorway where Genji was standing. "I need you to come with me for a minute.”

 

“Remember, you need to be ready to cover her eyes at the drop of a hat,” Mei said, smoothing down her bridesmaid dress. Genji perked up.

 

“Right. Thanks for reminding me.”

 

Angela sighed and walked over to him, flipping Mei’s bun as she passed, and grinning at her indignant squeak. "Is something wrong?" she asked Genji.

 

"Well... no. Not really." He sounded slightly tired and she raised an eyebrow. "Just... you'll see."

 

She frowned and glanced over at him as they walked into the courtyard, and nearly ran into Zenyatta.

 

"Ah! Angela! You look wonderful." She opened her mouth to thank him, but he was already speaking again, and had turned his back to her. She shot Genji a quizzical look, but his mask was on and his gaze was straight ahead. "I'm so sorry to bother you right now, but I just wanted to make sure, does the chuppah look alright?"

 

"Ah. Yes?" She looked across the lawn, to the canopy. "It looks exactly like how we ordered."

 

"Right, right. I just wasn't sure, sometimes companies can make mistakes, and I'm not quite familiar with the structure–"

 

"Zenyatta." She placed her hand on his shoulder, and he momentarily stopped fidgeting. "It looks great. Are you okay? I've never known you to be nervous."

 

"I'm usually not," he said. He tapped his steepled fingers together quickly. "But I've never officiated a wedding before, much less one with Jewish elements, I studied it some, of course, but I'm far from a rabbi–"

 

"Zen. I'm reform. And we picked you because of how much you mean to us, not because of your liturgical knowledge." She squeezed his shoulder, and he stilled and stayed still this time. "It's going to be perfect, no matter what."

 

"I told you," Genji said. She elbowed him and he grumbled in annoyance. Zenyatta laughed shakily.

 

"Alright," he said. "Go back to getting ready, then. The ceremony starts shortly."

 

-

 

It was a small reception, but she still had to search to find Ana. She found her in a back table, sitting with a glass of wine and a small plate of appetizers. She looked up, startled, when Angela sat down next to her, and quickly smiled.

 

"I'm sorry if I've been scarce, you both seemed so busy, I didn't want to bother you–"

 

"That's fine," Angela said. "But I'd like to have the next dance with you." Ana's smile dropped.

 

"I'm not sure that's a good idea," she said after a pause.

 

"Sure it is. I'm a bride, and that's what I want. Isn't that how this works?" Ana gave a humorless chuckle.

 

"I appreciate it, Angela, I do–"

 

"I'm not asking for your sake," she said. "I didn't have any parents to walk me down the aisle, Ana. I didn't have anyone to pass me down the family ring, or give me advice on how to make a marriage last. But I have you. And so I want to have a dance with you."

 

Ana shook her head slowly. "I know you– I know what the two of you said," she said, her voice hoarse. "But if she had listened to me, she would still be miserable–"

 

"You raised her to be smarter than you," Angela said. "That's what parents are supposed to do, right?" Ana laughed again, more sincerely this time, and Angela smiled. "She forgives you, Ana. And I don't think you did anything to me I need to forgive. Unless you turn down this next dance with me."

 

A new song had started. Ana smiled, stood up, and let Angela lead her to the dance floor. When the song was over, Angela felt someone tap her shoulder, and she turned around.

 

"Can I have the next one?" Pharah asked.

 

Angela smiled and stepped away. Ana leaned into her daughter's shoulder, and Angela saw that her eyes were wet.

 

-

 

Angela had argued with Pharah some about their honeymoon destination, thinking that she had picked it for her sake. But Pharah had insisted that she had been around the world, and of all the places she had been to, this was the most romantic. And anyway. She had still never been to the Swiss side of the Alps.

 

"And it's October, too," she said, as they unloaded the car. "I can finally get you that beer."

 

Angela grinned, then yelped as Pharah picked her up off her feet. She kicked in the door, sending it flying across the room. The two of them stared at it and the dented wall.

 

"We'll deal with that later," Pharah announced, and Angela laughed.

 

Pharah walked through the cabin, and set Angela down on their bed. She put her hand on her cheek.

 

"I love you," she said. Angela kissed the flat metal that made up her mouth, and she smiled.

 

When Angela looked up into her wife's red eyes, she saw the rest of her life stretched out before her.

**Author's Note:**

> So a note about this fic– writing it I was super aware that it could very easily fall into two shitty tropes, the "born sexy yesterday" (or some other form of infantilizing/dehumanizing Pharah) or the Mother Gothel Ana. I tried my best to avoid those, and I do try to actively subvert them, particularly in the later chapters. But if there's something that's bothering you that you want to talk to me about, you can do so in the comments or on tumblr @tacticalgrandma.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading, and any comments/kudos would mean the world to me!


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